


Five Times and a One

by williamastankova



Category: XO - Fandom, youtube - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 04:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14969366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/williamastankova/pseuds/williamastankova
Summary: At first, Stephen hadn't meant anything. But by the third time, it was serious, and by the sixth - oh, the sixth...





	Five Times and a One

1\. 

He didn't know why he did it, the first time.

 

He wasn't stupid. Things like this always have a domino effect, and quickly things get out of hand. This time was no different.

 

Maybe subconsciously, knowing this, he did it on purpose, because he wanted it. He wanted things to become chaotic, and he wanted to see how it would end, and he hoped it would be well. Well, soon enough, he would know, and now he was afraid. 

 

A few weeks ago, Stephen had written a skit, timed perfectly for when he knew Will would be in town. It was hardly out of the ordinary: he made jokes (some borderline many things), he wore costumes, Tom filmed it, and Max was to be bullied as usual. However, as it was featuring Will, he decided it a good idea to add his own twist, without putting it in the script or telling Will beforehand. It was something simple. 

 

As they were filming the final scene somewhere in a park in Manchester, Stephen went for it. Will said his final line, and he lunged, hands on Will's jaw, and kissed him. It didn't last very long at all, and it was hardly the best performance of his entire life, and he felt nauseous afterwards. Tom and Max laughed, and he froze, awaiting Will's response. It came quickly. "Bloody hell, mate!" He scrubbed at his mouth with his hoodie sleeve, "Could'a given me a warning, like! I'll have to bathe in holy water now. Cheers." 

 

His words, although obviously insincere, cut Stephen. He felt absolutely awful. Why had he done that? What would Will think of him? Would Tom keep it in? He certainly seemed to think it was good content. He said it fed both of their audiences, and so Stephen assumed he would. Hopefully he'd edit out his glazed look, though he wasn't convinced that would happen. 

 

2\. 

The second time, he was being featured in one of Will's videos. Again, nothing spectacular, but Stephen's stomach was still churning. He was nervous. It was ridiculous! He didn't like Will as anything more than a friend. He put it down to still feeling awkward about having kissed Will just the once for his sketch. He tried not to think about it, and his stomach seemed to calm down. 

 

Will, as per usual, was cracking jokes and making Stephen giggle, and Stephen tried to do the same, in turn, rather successfully. It even began to feel normal at one point, until Stephen noticed he had an overwhelming urge to kiss Will again. He tried to ignore it, and even stopped contributing to the video as much, but it was simply impossible to silence. He couldn't stop staring at Will's face, more specifically his mouth, and all of a sudden it became the only thought on his mind. The way Will's mouth turned upwards when he laughed, the way his eyes squinted in amusement, the sound of his laughter - it infested his brain. Eventually he reached his boiling point and he had to do something.

 

He went into autopilot, awaiting the appropriate moment to launch his attack, and finally he found it. Will was scrolling through the open tab on his computer, and Stephen leaned forward and pecked Will on the cheek without warning or hesitation. Will turned to look at him, confused, but finally smiled, settling Stephen's nerves. "I'll have to edit that out now, Stephen!" He said, in jest, "Thanks, you dick." And turned back to his screen. That was it. No shouting, no questions, no nothing. Stephen was at a complete loss.

 

When watching back the video after its upload, he discovered Will hadn't kept in the kiss. He had figured he wouldn't anyway, but a pang of something ran through him, that he tastefully diverted by commenting, "why'd you leave out the part when we kissed", knowing it would all be taken as a joke. That was best... wasn't it? That's all it was... right? 

 

3\. 

The next time, they were at Josh's party. They had claimed two comfortable seats on the sofa, and were comfortably tipsy, and were laughing and joking, and it was comfortable and completely, absolutely natural. Something was on the TV, and something was playing off of some speakers somewhere, and everybody in attendance was smiling and having a good time, but nobody more than them. 

 

Will sat with his legs spread, keeping as much space for the two of them as possible, but allowed a slumping Stephen into his territory. Stephen had his arm on the back of the couch and used it to lean against to look at Will as he was beginning to feel drowsy but was adamant not the let the night end so early. He continued to chat and drink and laugh and watch and listen all the same. 

 

It was just right. The right thing to do, when Will looked at him with something in his eyes, and he looked at Will the same. He both paused for a moment, checking inaudibly with Will that it was okay, and leaned in, closing the already small distance between them, using his free hand to hold his face in place, exploring and teasing and licking and dancing and smiling and breaking apart. When they parted for the final time, Stephen could see Will's stupid, something-struck face, and knew it was reflected on his own. It was the first time he had kissed Will without feeling immediately ill and like it was the wrong thing to do because it was reciprocated or anything.

 

He was happy.

 

4.

A door slam.

 

Will was irked. Stephen was absolutely furious.

 

Without really knowing why, he had a go at Will - a serious go, meaning he was spitting and yelling and taking out all of his witheld anger out on him, and Will wasn't one to take kindly to false mistreatment, so this lead to a full blown argument. "I don't understand why you're so angry!" Will said, clearly frustrated, "How was I supposed to know he'd tweet the picture? I didn't even bloody know he'd taken it!"

Stephen rolled his eyes, "It's not about the photo."

"Then what is it, Mr Tries?" Will said, mockingly, "Please, do enlighten me."

"It's..." Stephen shouted, wildly losing confidence after the sole word had left his mouth.

"'It's'?" Will spat, "Pretty fuckin' helpful that, Ste."

Stephen rolled his eyes again, "Says you."

Will looked shocked, "'Says me' what? What's that supposed to mean? I'd like for you to tell me just what-"

 

Stephen wanted him to shut up. He'd started something over nothing, and he'd rather have anything happen than to admit he was wrong. It was a fatal flaw of his, but ironically he'd never admit that, either. So he did what any sane person would have done and grabbed Will by the collar of his hoodie and tugged him closer, watching him trying to process what was happening before Stephen kissed him.

 

It was unlike any other kiss they had shared: it was powerful, heated, and all of their mean words and thoughts were being transferred through their mouths and tongues. Will shoved Stephen into the nearest wall and followed him, mere milliseconds after, returning to his lips, biting him hard as to nearly - or actually - draw blood. Stephen didn't dare let Will see he had him, so instead he reached around Will to the back of his head and pulled him closer, running his nails harshly across Will's scalp. This was war.

 

Stephen kissed Will breathless, and the latter was forced to pull away first. He took this as a win, and the look of hate in Will's eyes had vanished entirely, leaving something in its wake, though Stephen was busy being far too pleased with himself to pinpoint it, or even think about anything else in that moment. This was victory.

 

Will stalked off into a nearby room - possibly his room, probably not - and Stephen stood in place, a hand on his lip, and a glint in his eye.

 

That was something.

 

5.

They were alone. This happened a lot, but not like this.

 

Will invited Stephen over. He was lonely, as his flat was vacant of any roommates or other friends, and he needed some entertainment. With friendly intentions, he called Stephen who happened to be in town anyway, and an hour later they were sat in Will's living room, overlooking the motorway and the cars' bright lights leaving streams across the road. It was quiet.

 

They sat and chatted, and Will brought out some drinks, and they watched whatever was on and commentated to pass the time. Eventually, somewhere after midnight, they decided to head to sleep, but instead of offering Stephen a spare room, he was silent. Stephen felt rude asking, but what else could he do? "Hey Will, where am I going to--"

 

Lips.

Heat.

Passion.

 

In one moment, Will had trapped Stephen's lips with his own, and was holding his hips steadily. It was unlike their last kiss. The passion was there, but there was no anger. No hatred, no shouting, no vile words, just kissing. As silly as he thought it sounded, Stephen would have said he could feel worship passing through their tongues.

 

He stumbled as they moved towards Will's room. Catching him, Will withdrew his mouth an inch and spoke, watching Stephen's lips the entire time. "To answer your question, you'll be sleeping in my bed, if that's alright?" He inquired. His breath spilled onto Will's bruised mouth, teasing him. Stephen nodded eagerly and returned back to Will's mouth, feeling heavenly. He let Will walk him backwards until they reached his bed, and then he fell back, closely followed by Will. They landed with the younger man on top of Stephen, and their night was only just beginning.

 

Quickly, Will's hands made for Stephen's shirt, pulling at it until it slid off, and then he grinned to himself as the now shirtless man tugged at his top, clearly wanting it removed. He shook his head. "Not yet," he whispered, turning his attention to feeling Stephen's torso, relishing in the deliciously silky skin there, falling into how he felt and reacted to his touches. In fact, Will spent the entirety of the night watching Stephen, experimenting with him and toying with parts of him. When he did something Stephen froze a little at, he stopped and kissed him sweetly as an apology and a promise to not do it again. However, more often than not, Will caused a long whine to erupt from his throat, and this he adored. Nothing in life was ever as sweet as this, so he couldn't help himself dropping little kisses all across Stephen's body as praise; it was a cycle Will never wanted to break.

 

6.

The next morning, Will woke up first. In all honesty, when he awoke, he thought it was just another dream of his. Admittedly, he frequently - especially recently - had dreams of this nature about Stephen. He thought about how it would start. He thought about what he would do to Stephen, and how he would sound. He never thought about this, though. He never imagined how beautiful Stephen would look, curled up into Will. He never imagined how delicate his face would look in the morning - how pretty he really was, under his funny jokes and built-up persona. Will spent the time from when he woke up til when Stephen woke up counting various things about his face: the number of lashes he had, how many stray hairs stuck up, how many seconds it took between his light snores, how many freckles there were on the bridge of his nose. Stephen, despite what he led many to believe, was an ethereal being, in his resting state. Had Will found this out in any other platonic way, he would have likely teased him about it, taking a picture for proof and pasting it all over the internet. This, on the other hand, was different. This was their moment, and only Will would see Stephen like this. Never again would he allow another person to witness Stephen in this state, if all was just. He would be his only.

 

Will's thoughts were broken by a snore coming from Stephen that was louder than the others, and the man's eyelids fluttered open. Seriously, Stephen woke up like an actual Disney princess, it was so graceful. His eyes scanned the room (Will's) and then landed on its owner.

 

"Will," came his voice. Thankfully, it wasn't a question, which alleviated the worry that Stephen hadn't really meant anything that had transpired the night before to happen.

Will smiled down at him, tightening his arm a little to squeeze the smaller boy even closer against him, "'mornin." Stephen cracked a dopey, dazed smile, and Will's heart melted.

 

He felt such a strong feeling towards Stephen - that he daren't name, not just yet at least - that it was almost uncontrollable. Not to be melodramatic, but he could have wept there and then. Thinking that would have been too much for a Sunday morning, though, he opted to lean down and plant a ghost of a kiss on Stephen's lips, lingering for just a moment before pulling back, almost in fear of rejection, even if Stephen was lying in his bed, pressed against him, naked and bearing. Maybe it was a misunderstanding.

 

No. It definitely wasn't a misunderstanding, because Stephen lifted his head up, splaying his hands across Will's chest, and beamed at him. He was beautiful.

This was good. No, this was brilliant; it was a beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> I love this old trope. I've been trying to finish this for ages, and I haven't been able to feel comfortable with how it read, until I read over some of emmastrenchcoat's fics and felt super inspired to finish it! Seriously, if you're looking for some good ass fics, read theirs. I'm serious. Go do it. Now.


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